Sesame Workshop Has Long Been Dedicated to the Well-Being of Military Families and Their Children

Posted by Lynn Chwatsky, Sesame Workshop vice president of Outreach Initiatives and Partners on October 4, 2012

Lynn Chwatsky has been overseeing the Sesame Workshop’s initiatives with military families since 2006.

When we think about the challenges of military life, we sometimes forget the transitions the youngest members of our military families go through. Our service members’ young children are faced with a number of uniquely difficult circumstances: repeated relocation, the deployment of a parent, homecomings, injuries, even the death of a parent – to name a few. For years, Sesame Workshop has been providing resources that help both military parents and their children stay resilient during those trying transitions. Now, those bilingual (English and Spanish) resources are available on our new, free military families mobile application.

The “Sesame Street for Military Families” app includes videos, articles, storybooks and caregiver guides on how parents and children can communicate and express their emotions about challenging transitions.

Sesame Workshop has long been dedicated to the well-being of military families and their children. We reach out to families wherever they are: online, on mobile devices, even on the road. Our partnership with the USO, which brings “The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families”to thousands of families around the world, has provided infinite smiles and messages of love and support.

As technology evolves, new ways to help children through challenging transitions have emerged. That’s why Sesame Workshop uses online resources like our FamiliesNearAndFar.org website, which provides digital tools for military children, and social media like our Sesame Street for Military Families Facebook page to create an online community for sharing these resources. Our “Feel Electric!” app for military kids proved that mobile apps could deliver much needed content to help children express themselves during tough transitions. From those successes we knew we needed to provide the grown-ups in these same military families with resources on the device they rely on more and more – the smartphone. That’s why we launched “Sesame Street for Military Families.”